It is known (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,442) that the dynamic range of captured images (both still and video) may be increased by acquiring multiple images of the same scene then merging the multiple images into a single wide dynamic range image. This may be accomplished using multiple image sensors and/or by using sequential image acquisitions, with different exposure settings. The former is expensive, not only because of the need for multiple image sensors, but also because the two image sensors need to be optically aligned with great precision so that the image of any object in front of the lens will be projected on the same pixel row and column in both image sensors. The latter is cheaper; however, because the two acquisitions do not take place at the same time, this approach is highly susceptible to motion artifacts.
Previously-incorporated U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/345,642 discloses methods to generate short and long exposures of an image for the purpose of expanding its dynamic range, without the need to duplicate the number of image sensors, or to acquire two images at two different timing instances. However, further improvements are desirable.